The top tier in English football today is the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, replacing the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

for the 1992–93 inaugural season. Since the 1888–89 season, the first year of top flight football, three players have scored over 300 goals with a further 25 players scoring over 200 goals. In total 256 players have all scored 100 goals or more. 110 different individual players have been named top scorer. Players from

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

have been named top scorer more than players from any other club, appearing thirteen times on this list.

Jimmy Greaves James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Regarded as one of the greatest strikers of all time and one of England's best ever players, he is England's fifth- ...

, the all-time top goal scorer in top flight history, won it four times whilst at Tottenham. Nineteen different nationalities are represented and although the vast majority of players are English, there were fifteen times where the top scorer in the First Division was Scottish. Since the Premier League started, the player (or players) is awarded the Golden Boot Trophy, for the most league goals in the season. In the Premier League era,

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (; born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, sports broadcaster and former player. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time and widely regarded as the greatest player in Premi ...

has won the Golden Boot more times than anyone else, winning this accolade four times, all with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle F.C., Pl ...

, the Premier League's third highest goal scorer, does not appear on this list at all. Once a rarity, a more widespread assortment of nationalities has achieved this success in recent years; in the 2018–19 season, it was shared between three players from different African countries, then in the 2021–22 season, Son Heung-min from South Korea finished level with Egypt's

Mohamed Salah Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly (, ; born 15 June 1992), also known as Mo Salah, is an Egyptian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a right winger or Forward (association football), forward for club Liverpool F.C., L ...

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is regarded as one of th ...

won the award once, scoring 26 in the 2014–15 season. The Argentinian striker scored 184 goals between 2011 and 2021 to become the top foreign top flight goal scorer, a record later equalled by Salah in the 2024–25 season.

Top scorers

By season

On six occasions

was the league top scorer: twice with Chelsea and later four with

; however,

Steve Bloomer Stephen Bloomer (20 January 1874 – 16 April 1938) was an England international footballer and manager who played for Derby County – becoming their record goalscorer – and Middlesbrough. The anthem " Steve Bloomer's Watchin'" is played a ...

with five holds the record for one team.

is the record

winner with four.

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...

has won the honour three times, all with different clubs, the only player to do so. In the 1951–52 season,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

international Jorge 'George' Robledo became the first foreign player to score the most goals in a season, topping the list with 33 goals for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

. For two consecutive years the award was won by the lowest total of goals ever, 18. Englishmen

Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, Newcastle United ...

Dion Dublin Dion Dublin (born 22 April 1969) is an English former professional footballer, television presenter and pundit. He is a club director of Cambridge United. As a player he was a centre-forward, notably playing in the Premier League for Manches ...

and Chris Sutton won in the 1997–98 season. Owen again won in the 1998–99 season, but this time he was joined by Dutchman

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Jerrel Floyd "Jimmy" Hasselbaink ( ; born 27 March 1972) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. Born in Suriname, he and his family would later move to the Dutch city of Zaandam where he first played football, initially a ...

and Dwight Yorke, Trinidad and Tobago, the duo becoming the first foreign, league top scorers since Robledo. During this period however, two

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

internationals, winger Andy McEvoy and striker John Aldridge, topped the scoring charts. McEvoy shared the most goals with Jimmy Greaves in the 1964–65 season while Aldridge top scored for Liverpool in the 1987–88 season. Both players, although non-British, do not appear on the top foreign goalscorers list published by the

IFFHS The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...

as well as many other more reputable football websites.

Didier Drogba Didier Yves Drogba Tébily (; born 11 March 1978) is an Ivorian former professional association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He is the Top international association football goal scorers by cou ...

(Ivory Coast) became the first African to win the award in 2006–07 season and later

Carlos Tevez Carlos Alberto Tevez (; né Martínez; born 5 February 1984) is an Argentine professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. A dynamic forward (association football), forward in his prime, Tevez ...

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...

and

would add to the South American winners. In 2018–19, two players from the same club both finished as top scorers for the first time,

Sadio Mané Sadio Mané (born 10 April 1992) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a forward or left winger for Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr and the Senegal national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest African players o ...

, Senegal, and

, Egypt, of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, finished in another three way tie, joined by Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, Gabon. The 2021–22 season saw Son Heung-min become the first Asian winner; the South Korean international scored 23 goals, finishing level with Mohamed Salah. From the start of the Premier League, a golden boot trophy is presented to the top goalscorer. The first player to win this trophy was

Teddy Sheringham Edward Paul "Teddy" Sheringham (born 2 April 1966) is an English football manager and former player. He played as a forward, mostly as a second striker, in a 24-year professional career. Sheringham was part of the Manchester United team tha ...

, then playing for

. In the 1993–94 season

Andy Cole Andrew Alexander Cole (born 15 October 1971) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. His professional career lasted from 1988 to 2008, and is mostly remembered for his time with Manchester United, who paid a Brit ...

scored 34 goals for Newcastle United, the highest number of goals in the Premier League era to win the award. The following season

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer (born 13 August 1970) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a striker (association football), striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of t ...

equalled it while playing for Blackburn Rovers. Both these records however, were set during a 42 match season. Since the Premier League was reduced down to 20 teams,

held the record previously with 32 in a 38 match season for

until Norwegian striker

Erling Haaland Erling Braut Haaland (, ; born 21 July 2000) is a Norwegian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and the Norway national football te ...

scored his 33rd goal for

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in the 2022–23 season. Haaland's next goal saw him break the record of most goals scored in a season by a foreign player, ending Robledo's 71-year-old record. Haaland finished the season with 36 goals, the highest goal amount since Ron Davies scored 37 for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

fifty-seven years ago. However all these totals are dwarfed by the all time record holder, Everton legend Dixie Dean, who still holds the record for the most goals in a season with 60, set in the 1927–28 season. Dean's 310 goals scored for Everton is still the record for most goals scored for one club, and also still holds the records for most hat-tricks, both overall and in a single season. Since the turn of the

millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

only three Englishmen have won the award. In the 1999–2000 season Kevin Phillips won with 30 goals for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. This was a record for most goals by a debut player, in a 38 match season, until

broke it in the 2022–23 season.

Harry Kane Harry Edward Kane (born 28 July 1993) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Bundesliga club FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich and Captain (association football), c ...

won the golden boot in successive seasons when he scored 25 in 2015–16 and then 29 in the 2016–17 season. He won it again in the 2020–21 season with 23. The third is Jamie Vardy; the

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

striker scored 23 goals in the 2019–20 season. StiveBloomer

By number of seasons as top scorer

*Bold shows players currently playing in the

. *''Italics'' show players still playing professional football.

By club

Coventry City and Stoke City are the only clubs with top league scorers whose teams have never finished in the top three.

By nationality

Top 50 all-time top scorers

The

Football League Division One The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

from 1888 through to the end of the 1991–92 season and now the

, make up the top tier in English football. During these 136 years three players have scored over 300 goals, with another 25 scoring over 200 goals. A further three players were a goal shy, finishing on 199 goals. The first was Sheffield Wednesday's Andrew Wilson whose career was interrupted by

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

but went onto make 501 appearances. In the mid-sixties, Bobby Smith retired after scoring 23 in 74 for Chelsea and 176 in 271 for Tottenham, and finally ten years later,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

legend Sir Bobby Charlton, left Manchester United after making 606 appearances. Derby County forward

was the first player to score over 300 goals, his record of 314 stood for over half a century. In 14 years, he scored 240 goals in 376 matches in his first stint at Derby County before moving to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

where he scored 59 in 125 games for the Boro. After five years on Teesside, he returned to Derby who were in the second division then. He spent two years in the second division scoring 38 goals before the Rams won promotion. In his final two seasons he scored a further 15 goals in 34 matches, a total of 255 in 410 appearances for Derby County. Everton striker Dixie Dean came very close to breaking the record, he scored 349 league goals all for Everton, however 39 were scored in the second division, leaving him 4 goals behind. Bloomers' achievement was finally surpassed when

broke the record scoring 357 goals, playing for Chelsea,

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. For Chelsea he scored 124 goals in 157 appearances, only

Frank Lampard Frank James Lampard (born 20 June 1978) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of English club Coventry City. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, one of Chelsea's greates ...

147, Roy Bentley 130, and Bobby Tambling 129 have scored more top flight goals for Chelsea. Greaves moved on to

where, to this day, remains Tottenham's top league goalscorer after scoring 220 goals in 321 appearances. His top flight career ended at West Ham United, where he scored 13 in 38 matches. In the

era,

sits top, but even with his full tally of 283 goals, he still trails. Four more "modern day" players, who have played in the Premier League make the list,

, the third highest Premier League goalscorer with 208 goals for Everton and

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, is 22nd.

legend

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best Welsh playe ...

is the 14th highest scorer in the history of top flight football, but his Premier League tally is only 48 goals, ranking him 132nd. Another player to lose goals is Tony Cottee, who sits in 18th place. His last 78 goals gives him a current PL ranking of 62. Apart from these three, a further 20 players, who have scored 100 or more goals, have lesser totals. Ranked 45th, Lee Chapman scored 177 goals, the same as

and two more than

, but his last 23 goals sees him in 360th place in the Premier League.

Peter Beardsley Peter Andrew Beardsley (born 18 January 1961) is an English football coach and former footballer who played as a forward or midfielder. In 1987, he set a record transfer fee in the English game and represented his country 59 times between 1 ...

and

Matt Le Tissier Matthew Paul Le Tissier (; born 14 October 1968) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Le Tissier spent his entire professional club career with Southampton F.C., Southampton, before turning to non- ...

(jointly ranked 71st), both scored 161 goals, 11 more than

who is eleventh on the PL list. Beardsley is in 96th position with 58 goals in the Premier League while a lack of centurions, assists Le Tissier's ranking. Losing 61 goals improves his overall position, ranked 34th in the

with 100 goals. The most recent active player in the Top 50 is

, his goal against Leicester City on

Boxing day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...

, 2024, was his 173rd, moving the Egyptian winger inside the top 50. Recently, former Tottenham Hotspur striker

, scored 30 goals in his last season in England to move above players such as Dennis Viollet, Ray Charnley who both had 190 goals, Peter Harris, who scored 192 goals for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Stan Mortensen Stanley Harding Mortensen (26 May 1921 – 22 May 1991) was an English professional footballer, notable for his part in the 1953 FA Cup final (subsequently known as the " Matthews Final"), in which he became the only player ever to score a hat- ...

who scored 197 goals for

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, George Elliott who scored 198 goals for

and the three players mentioned above who all scored 199 goals. Kane, ranked 19th, became only the 28th player in 136 years of league football to join the elite 200 club, who, in the summer of 2023, signed for German club

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. First Division/Premier League top 50 goalscorers As shown below in the player records, Lee Chapman holds the record of most top flight clubs scored for with 8.

played for 8 clubs also, but only scored for 6. Marcus Bent is another player to play for 8 different top flight clubs, again only scoring for 6. Steve Claridge has played for sixteen different league clubs, but only with

has he played in the top division, scoring 12 in 49 appearances. A name that does not appear on the top scorer list is Arthur Rowley, the record holder for the most goals in league football, scoring 434 goals in 619 league games. Arthur's brother

Jack Rowley John Frederick Rowley (7 October 1918 – 28 June 1998) was an English footballer who played as a forward from the 1930s to the 1950s, mainly remembered for a 17-year spell with Manchester United. He was nicknamed "The Gunner" because of his pr ...

scored 173 goals for

and is ranked 50th, shown above. Arthur however didn't play much top flight football in his career, but he did score 51 goals in 95 matches. In one season at

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

he scored 8 in 34 appearances and then later hit 43 in 61 appearances over two seasons for

Clubs top scorer in top tier

The start of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

saw 12 teams become the founding members of the first ever league season in 1888–89. These were

Accrington Accrington is a town in the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies about east of Blackburn, west of Burnley, east of Preston, north of Manchester and is situated on the culverted River Hyndburn. Commonly abbreviated by locals to ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, Everton, Preston North End,

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, Derby County,

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

, Stoke City,

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

and

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

. Since then a total of sixty five different clubs have played at the top level, with only three

premier league The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

players breaking club records set in the football league.

beat the 150 scored by Cliff Bastin for

. Roy Bentley who scored 130 goals for Chelsea was surpassed by

, while Sergio Aguero overtook the 147 Eric Brook scored for

scored in both the First Division and the Premier League to become Southampton's top scorer, exceeding the 134 goal record set by Welshman Ron Davies. The Premier League's top three goalscorers, who all have scored over 200 goals, fail to appear.

finished nine goals adrift of Blackburn's

Ted Harper Edward Cashfield Harper (22 August 1901 – 22 July 1959) was an English Association football, footballer, who played at centre-forward scoring a then record high of 43 league goals in a season in 1925–26 in English football, 1925–26 for Blac ...

and finished two short of Geordie legend

Jackie Milburn John Edward Thompson "Jackie" Milburn (11 May 1924 – 9 October 1988) was an English football player principally associated with Newcastle United and England, though he also spent four seasons at Linfield. He was also known as Wor Jackie (par ...

, while

was sixteen short of Bobby Charlton's record.

ended with 213, leaving

still as Tottenham's record goalscorer.

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak (borough), High Peak, Derbyshire, England, east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. Near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Mancheste ...

statistics currently unavailable.

Top five scorers by nationality

Many different nationalities have played in English top flight football throughout the years. The tables below show the top five highest scorers from their respective countries. As shown in the top 50 list above, the top English and Scottish goal scorers can be seen. Of the home nation countries, Premier League players are well short of the overall records. Northern Ireland's top Premier League scorer is Iain Dowie who scored 33 of his 57 goals in the Premier League. The top Welsh goal scorer is

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; born 29 November 1973) is a Welsh football coach, former player and co-owner of Salford City. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, and one of the best wingers in the history of footba ...

who scored 114 goals, 109 in the Premier League while Duncan Ferguson with 68 goals is the top

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

goal scorer in the Premier League. All well short of the record totals by Derek Dougan, Ian Rush and Hughie Gallacher.

striker Robbie Keane scored 126 goals in the Premier League, but ended with 10 goals less than record holder Frank Stapleton. A different story with the rest of the world, made up predominately of Premier League players only. South American Jorge Robledo's record remains from the fifties, currently the joint third highest goalscorer. Craig Johnston has been overtaking by Premier League Oceanic players while Lindy Delapenha also, has lost his

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

record. However, South African duo Stuart Leary and Berry Nieuwenhuys records remain intact from decades ago. American Roy Wegerle has dropped to second in the United States and Canada scorers. The European and African top scorers are all from the Premier League era. When Dwight Yorke scored a hat-trick for

against

, on Sunday 17 January 1999, he became the top foreign scorer. With this treble he moved onto 84 top-flight goals, surpassing the previous record of 82, set by Chilean Jorge Robledo in 1953. Later that year on Saturday 18 December 1999, Yorke scored twice for Manchester United in a 4-2 away win at

. His first goal that day saw him become the first foreign player to score 100 top flight goals. This was his 27th league goal for Manchester United, after scoring 73 previously for

. As of the end of the 2023–24 season, his 136 goals ranks him as the fifth-highest foreign goalscorer, behind

186 and

184,

175 and

Robin van Persie Robin van Persie (; born 6 August 1983) is a Dutch football coach and former professional association football, footballer who is the head coach of Eredivisie club Feyenoord. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and was ...

144. * Bold shows players currently playing in the

. Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Wales Europe (excluding UK/RoI) South America Africa Oceania United States and Canada Central America Asia

Excluded centurions

Former

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

legend

Johnny Giles Michael John Giles (born 6 November 1940) is an Irish former association football player and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s. After retiring from management in 1985, Giles served as ...

in a 2016 interview published in the

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

states "What other sport wipes out 100 years of records and standards and decides that Alan Shearer was the first player to score 100 goals for two clubs when Jimmy Greaves did it decades before? In no other sport in England is there such a casual disregard and disrespect for the achievements of players who inhabit the archives..." In the 136 year history of football in England, a total of 256 players have scored 100 or more goals in the top flight. Son Heung-min in the 2022–23 season became the latest player to reach a century of goals, all scored for

. That figure includes the 34 players in the Premier League 100 club, leaving 222 players excluded from the records shown today, those centurions among the 104 years of history "wiped out". Out of those 256 centurions, 24 players played either side of the 1992 rebranding of the top tier in English football. Seven of those players would be among the first players included in the premier league 100 club, those records easily available. The other seventeen players would be included among the neglected records. The records of those other 222 players who have all scored 100 or more goals, are not as easily, or readily available as the 34 players who have, since 1992. The tables below show the seventeen players who scored a century of top flight goals and the seven who have a lesser total, after the 1992 launch of the Premier League, never seen among the Premier League era records.

, despite not having his first 61 goals for

included, is ranked 34th in the Premier League. He scored the same number of goals as

, however, his 100 goals he scored from 1992 places him in the Premier League records, where as Beardsley is among the 222 excluded centurions, not among any records shown on

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...

. The goal-scoring career of Manchester United stalwart

Bryan Robson Bryan Robson (born 11 January 1957) is an English association football, football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club ca ...

is very nearly entirely erased, the same with Alan Smith, the

and

striker. John Wark, the Ipswich Town and

midfielder scored 135 goals, which would make him the 14th highest goal scorer in the

. The

midfielder is ahead of Paul Scholes and

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,Dion Dublin Dion Dublin (born 22 April 1969) is an English former professional footballer, television presenter and pundit. He is a club director of Cambridge United. As a player he was a centre-forward, notably playing in the Premier League for Manches ...

and

, just outside the top 20. Many other player records also fail to show their full career goal statistics because of the changeover. These include Manchester United forward Brian McClair who had 70 of his 88 goals deducted. Paul Goddard scored 82 goals but is shot down to only 3 while England midfielder Steve Hodge has 3 goals also, not his full 79. Gary Bannister also had 70 goals removed, 78 reduced to 8 goals. Former

left back Stuart Pearce is shown with 20 goals and not the 63 he scored, mostly at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. David Platt does not have his 45 goals he scored for

included, only the 13 he scored for

Chris Waddle Christopher Roland Waddle (born 14 December 1960) is an English former professional football player and manager. He had a spell as Burnley manager during the 1997–98 season, but has not returned to coaching since. Largely since retiring he h ...

loses his entire career records for both

and

, his 10 goals for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

and his solitary

goal are all that's included. 17 players who all scored 100 or more goals, scoring in both Division 1 & Premier League Total goals of players included in the Premier League 100 club

Player Records

All records listed below pertain to league matches played in Division 1 and/or the Premier League only. Most goals: 357 -

in 516 matches for Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United (1957-1971) Most goals in a season: * 42 matches – 60 Dixie Dean, Everton 1927–28 * 38 matches – 38 Bert Freeman, Everton 1908–09 Most goals in a debut season: * 42 matches – 38 Dave Halliday, Sunderland 1925–26 * 38 matches – 36

, Manchester City 2022–23 Most goals in a match: 7 Ted Drake for Arsenal v Aston Villa (away) 14 December 1935 Most hat-tricks: 30 Dixie Dean Everton 1923–1937 Most hat-tricks in one season: 8 Dixie Dean 1931-32 Youngest goalscorer: Jason Dozzell 16 years and 57 days for Ipswich Town ''v'' Coventry City, February 1984) Youngest hat-trick goalscorer:

17 years 240 days for Southampton v Arsenal 8 April 1988. (

Trevor Francis Trevor John Francis (19 April 1954 – 24 July 2023) was an English footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million pla ...

16 years and 317 days was in Division 2) Oldest goalscorer: Billy Meredith, 47 years, 8 months, 17 days for Manchester City v Burnley 15 April 1922. Also FA Cup oldest goalscorer, aged 49. Most consecutive league matches scored in: 15

1950-51 Most clubs scored for: 8 Lee Chapman (Stoke City, Sheffield Wed. Leeds Utd, Arsenal, Sunderland, Nott'm Forest, West Ham Utd, Ipswich Town) Consecutive hat-tricks: 3 * Frank Osborne, Tottenham Hotspur 1925 v Liverpool, Leicester City, West Ham United *

Tom Jennings Thomas Daniel Jennings (born 1955) is a Los Angeles-based artist and computer programmer, known for his work that led to FidoNet (the first message and file networking bulletin board system, or BBS), and for his work at Phoenix Software on ...

, Leeds United 1926 v Arsenal, Liverpool (4), Blackburn Rovers * Dixie Dean, Everton 1927/28 1928/29 v Burnley (4), Arsenal, Bolton Wanderers (2 end of season,1 opening day of new season) * Jack Balmer, Liverpool 1946 v Portsmouth, Derby County (4), Arsenal Most hat-tricks for one team in a match: 3 Alf Spouncer, Enoch West and Bill Hooper Nott'm Forest, in their record breaking 12–0 home win over Leicester City on 21 April 1909. Most penalties scored: 56

(from 67 taken for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United, 1992–2006) Most penalties scored in 1 season: 13 Francis Lee, Manchester City 1971–72 Hat-trick of penalties: * Billy Walker for Aston Villa v Bradford City in 1921. * Charlie Mitten for Manchester United v Aston Villa in 1950. * Ken Barnes for Manchester City v Everton in 1957. * Justin Kluivert for Bournemouth v Wolves in 2024. Most own goals in one season: 5 Bobby Stuart (Middlesbrough 1934–35) Fastest goal by a substitute: 6 seconds,

Nicklas Bendtner Nicklas Bendtner (; born 16 January 1988) is a Danish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. His preferred position was centre-forward, but he has also played on the Forward ...

for Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur, 22 December 2007) Most consecutive Top Scorer awards: 3 *

(1963, 1964, 1965) *

(1995, 1996, 1997) *

(2004, 2005, 2006) Most top scorer awards with different clubs: 3

(Leicester City 1985, Everton 1986, Tottenham Hotspur 1990) 100 goals for two different clubs: 3 * David Jack 1919–34 (Bolton Wanderers 144 – Arsenal 113) *

1957–1970 (Chelsea 124 – Tottenham Hotspur 220) *

1992–2006 (Blackburn Rovers 112 – Newcastle United 148) Fastest player to reach 100 goals: Dave Halliday in 101 games for

. Players to score over 30 league goals in four consecutive seasons: Dave Halliday, 1925–26 to 1928–29. Halliday scored at least 35 goals in each of those four seasons. Most league appearances:

Peter Shilton Peter Leslie Shilton (born 18 September 1949) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. His 31-year career included spells at 11 clubs and he has the uni ...

849 (1966–1997) Most league appearances by an outfield player: John Hollins 714 (1963–1983) (62 goals - Chelsea 47, Q.P.R 6, Arsenal 9) Most league appearances at one club:

672 for Manchester United, 2 March 1991 to 6 May 2014) Most titles won by an individual player: 13

Team goals: Most goals scored in total:

7,344 in 4,353 matches. (Arsenal 7,268 in 4,352 - Everton 7,266 in 4,735) Most goals scored in a season: * 42 matches - 128

1930–31 Top scorers, Tom 'Pongo' Waring 49, Eric Houghton 30. (8 other scorers) Arsenal scored 127 in same season. * 38 matches - 106

2017–18 Top scorer, Sergio Aguero 21. (12 other scorers)

Notes

References

{{Premier League Golden Boot

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

Football League First Division England 1 First England 1 First Association football player non-biographical articles Football records and statistics in England